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Collection Number: 03851

Collection Title: Louis Marshall Papers, 1816-1878

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.


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Size 0.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 95 items)
Abstract Louis Marshall was a physician and educator, native of Virginia, and younger brother of chief justice John Marshall (1755-1835). Marshall married Agatha Smith (1780-1844) and with her had six children, three of whom served in the U.S. Congress: Thomas Francis Marshall (1801-1864), representative from Kentucky, 1841-1843; Edward Colston Marshal (1821-1893), representative from California, 1851-1853; and Alexander Keith Marshall (1808-1884), representative from Kentucky, 1855-1857. The collection is primarily personal letters, 1840-1857, concerning activities of members of the Marshall family of Kentucky. The majority of the letters were written b y the women of the family, especially Marshall's daughter, Agatha (1818-1858), who married Caleb Logan and lived in Louisville, Ky., and her cousin, Mira Madison (1803-1883), who married Andrew Jonathan Alexander and lived in Woodford County, Ky. Most letters concern domestic life and family matters. Many discuss travel, church attendance, social class, and neighborhood events; others refer to the health and activities of slaves owned by members of the Marshall and Alexander families. There are also occasional references to the local and national economies, duels, and sectional tensions. There is a photocopy of a letter, 1843, from John Quincy Adams to Thomas F. Marshall, and a photocopy of a letter, 1844, from Andrew Jackson to Marshall. There is very little information on the Civil War.
Creator Marshall, Louis, 1773-1866.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Restrictions to Use
Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the Louis Marshall Papers #3851, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Alternate Form of Material
All or part of this collection is available on microfilm from University Publications of America as part of the Records of ante-bellum southern plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War, Series J.
Acquisitions Information
Received from Mrs. Guy A. Cardwell, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, in July 1969, December 1975, and April 1977.
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: Scott Philyaw, June 1991

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

This collection was rehoused under the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subject Headings

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

Louis Marshall, 1773-1866, physician, educator, and youngest brother of chief justice John Marshall (1755-1835), was born in Fauquier County, Virginia. He moved with his parents to Kentucky in 1785. After studying medicine in Europe during the 1790s, he returned to Kentucky where he settled on the family estate "Buckpond." In 1800, he married Agatha Smith (1780-1844). He served as president of Washington College (now Washington and Lee University), 1830-1834, and was a professor and president pro tem at Transylvania College, 1838-1840

Three of Louis and Agatha Marshall's six children served in the United States Congress: Thomas Francis Marshall (1801-1864) represented Kentucky, 1841-1843; Edward Colston Marshall (1821-1893) represented California, 1851-1853; and Alexander Keith Marshall (1808-1884) represented Kentucky, 1855-1857.

The Marshalls also had one daughter, Agatha (1818-1858), who married Caleb Logan. She and her cousin, Mira Madison (1803-1883), who married Andrew Jonathan Alexander, wrote over half the letters contained in this collection.

(Biographical information from the Dictionary of American Biography.)

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

Approximately half the letters were written by the Marshall's only daughter, Agatha Logan of Louisville, Kentucky, and her cousin, Mira Madison Alexander of "Sherwood" in Woodford County, Kentucky. Seventy five percent of the items are from 1840-1857.

Despite the family's political connections, there are very few explicitly political items in the collection. Domestic life and familial concerns predominate. However, there are hints of broader topics. While the national debate on slavery is barely mentioned, the writers do discuss their own problems with domestic "servants." The role of violence in Southern society may be glimpsed through the correspondents' occasional participation in duels and feuds. There are also references to the local and national economies and to sectional tensions. However, there is very little information on the Civil War. This collection is particularly strong in descriptions of social and family life in Kentucky. Many letters discuss travel, church attendance, social calls, and neighborhood events. Letters often refer to the health and activities of slaves owned by members of the Marshall and Alexander families.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Correspondence, 1816-1878 and undated.

92 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Primarily personal letters, 1840-1857, concerning activities of members of the Marshall family of Kentucky. The majority of the letters were written by the women of the family, especially Marshall's daughter, Agatha (1818-1858), who married Caleb Logan and lived in Louisville, Ky., and her cousin, Mira Madison (1803-1883), who married Andrew Jonathan Alexander and lived in Woodford County, Ky. Most letters concern domestic life and family matters. Many discuss travel, church attendance, social calls, and neighborhood events; others refer to the health and activities of slaves owned by members of the Marshall and Alexander families. There are also occasional references to the local and national economies, duels, and sectional tensions. There is a photocopy of a letter, 1843, from John Quincy Adams to Thomas F. Marshall, and a photocopy of a letter, 1844, from Andrew Jackson to Marshall. There is very little information on the Civil War.

Folder 1

1816-1838

Folder 2

1840-1844

Folder 3

1845-1849

Folder 4

1850-1878 and undated

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. A Web of Family

1 item.

A Web of Family: Letters From a Kentucky Family, 1816-1865 containing transcriptions of many of the letters in this collection. Typescript (251 pages) of 92 letters of Marshall, Alexander, and related families of Woodford County, Kentucky, edited with a preface and introduction by Margaret R. (Mrs. Guy A.) Cardwell. Bound in two volumes.

Transcriptions of most items appear in A Web of Family: Letters From A Kentucky Family, 1816-1865. Items that do not appear in A Web of Family are listed below and are originals except where indicated:

Letters:

27 March 1818 Elisa Colston to Dr. Louis Marshall.

18 August 1840 M. [?] Pope to Agatha Marshall.

26 November 1841 Wm. S. R. [?] to Agatha M. Marshall, two poems.

2 December 1843 John Quincy Adams to Thomas F. Marshall, photocopy and typed transcript.

24 June [18]44 Ann A. Reid to Agatha M. Logan.

21 November 1844 Andrew Jackson to Thomas F. Marshall, photocopy and typed transcript.

29 May 1844 Necrology of Mrs. Agatha Marshall and handwritten transcript.

2 August [1860?] D. C. Goodrich to Caleb Logan.

18 January 1878 W. L. Marshall to Edward [?]

12 September 1878 W. L. Marshall to Edward C. Mars[hall?]

28 September 1878 W. L. Marshall to Edward [?]

[undated] [?] to Dr. Louis Marshall, care of Caleb Logan, poem in French and handwritten transcript

[undated] Thomas F. Marshall to John Coleman.

Newspaper clippings:

15 January 185? [?] reviews congressional speech of Mr. Marshall.

3 April 1853 The Daily Pennsylvanian, sketch of Edward C. Marshall of California and John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky.

There are also a few items in A Web of Family for which there is no corresponding original or photocopy in the collection.

Folder 5

Volume I (pages i-v, 1-200), preface, introduction, and letters

Folder 6

Volume II (pages 201-251), notes

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